Shkëlzen Gashi reacted regarding the exhibition about the massacres in Kosovo, saying that for compiling the list of those killed they relied on the list of victims from the “Kosovo Memory Book” of the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC), an organization led by Nataša Kandić.
“For compiling the list of those killed in the massacres, we relied on the list of victims from the ‘Kosovo Memory Book’ of the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC), an organization led by Nataša Kandić. In the book we have clarified that in this HLC list of victims, for some massacres certain individuals who were killed are recorded as armed persons, even though at the moment of their killing they were unarmed civilians and had not resisted,” the organizations said, among other things.
Meanwhile, the exhibition in question has sparked reactions and criticism, because it states, among other things, that in the Dubrava Massacre 48 armed Albanians and 58 unarmed civilians were killed. This has been considered inaccurate. The Mayor of Pristina, Përparim Rama, also reacted, calling it “unacceptable and offensive” and announcing that he has suspended the permit for the exhibition.
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CLARIFICATION
In Mother Teresa Square in Pristina, the exhibition “Massacres in Kosovo 1998–1999,” organized by ADMOVERE and INTEGRA, remains open to the public.
This exhibition presents, in chronological order, 49 massacres carried out during the war in Kosovo (1998–1999), starting from the massacre in Likoshan-Qirez (February 28, 1998) to the massacre of the Bala family (June 12, 1999). Out of a total of 105 massacres identified so far, 49 massacres have been included in this exhibition for which we have secured photographs and witness quotations. All 105 massacres are included in the book “Massacres in Kosovo 1998–1999” and will also be included on the website “Massacres in Kosovo 1998–1999,” which will be launched soon.
The exhibition is fully based on the book “Massacres in Kosovo 1998–1999,” published in 2024 by ADMOVERE and INTEGRA.
For compiling the list of those killed in the massacres, we relied on the list of victims from the “Kosovo Memory Book” of the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC), an organization led by Nataša Kandić. In the book we clarified that in this HLC list of victims, for some massacres certain individuals who were killed are recorded as armed persons, even though at the moment of their killing they were unarmed civilians and had not resisted.
This list remains even today the only and most reliable source for documenting those killed, given that the institutions of Kosovo have not yet compiled an official list of the victims.
ADMOVERE and INTEGRA call on the state institutions of Kosovo to compile such a list of the victims as soon as possible, a process that requires extraordinary commitment, in order to avoid possible misunderstandings.
At the same time, ADMOVERE and INTEGRA remain committed to their work to honor all civilian victims during the last war in Kosovo.
